I believed the BS. I drank the koolaid. I forgot how to think for myself. I was afraid. I was dumb enough to think there wasn't anything better out there.
I do not think your a dumb *** nor do I think anyone who got involved like I did is "damaged" or stupid or in any way shape or form less of a loved child of God.
At first I did it cause I bought the package and wanted to sell it myself we all did I think it was a sales job and ignorance
but after that when we knew this is a butch of problems or stress or just wrong why did we still stay then?
shellon I do not blame you I know of more than one couple that even stayed married in great amount of crises and unhappiness because of the way and the same reasoning.
or got married , or got divorced . It was a mess .
till I was marked and realized how short lived that type of love was in real life.
then when I went back I said to myself still cant believe this but you know it was the devil and well of course they are my real family .
man I still think at times it was an odd ( for lack of a different word to describe) thing the relationships I had in the way, geez sometimes I thought if I met the very same idiots in real life I would NOT give them a second of my time and here I am lstening to them tell me what the bible really means to my life.
what was up with that? maybe I bought the idea that were all so dam special and powerful for God and above being assh@les and worse .
Why did we stay? Because we were at HQ and had no where else to go and like Refiner stated, "who would save us?" We knew no God outside the walls of TWI.
We had already divided ourselves from our families in a sense. We had depleted all our personal savings living at HQ since they wouldn't cover expenses such as an unexpected need for a new car engine and various other needs that a family of five would incur. Little by little, we had no money of our own. We "owed our soul to the company store." It wasn't until we had asked for several years to be placed on the field that they would finally agree to let us go. (with a few thousand, we were able to finally get out on our own.)
Just like someone posted earlier, we believed just about everything they told us concerning God's delight and favor on TWI and what would happen if we left. It's hard to believe now that we actually behaved as if TWI was synonomous with God.
Thank God we're out now and I pray that their destructive organization falls to pieces! I still believe that the word of God will live and abide forever though. (In spite of TWI!)
I stayed cause I had nowhere else to go, and at the time that was important to me. It finally dawned on me that it was better to have no place to go and leave, than it was to have error and stay.
dmiller you said "have error and stay" I had always seen the differences in the way esp. the doctrine of sit and such I never considered it error and the fact grace was so heavily relied on as a excuse when people hurt one another erased any error of people.
really I thought we had the hold on love and truth and none of such considerations would matter cause GOD was taking care of me and all of us.
I don't believe much of what you have said here at Greasespot. I am not saying that you are a bad person, just that you have not been honest here.
Want to start over? And tell the truth this time? This is a good place, really. You can be honest, tell the truth, and maybe, just maybe find what you are looking for.
I am very sorry.....I apologize for throwing fuel on the derail.
Why did I leave? Leaving twi was the single hardest thing I have ever done. I was in 28 years.....in when I was 14, did all that anyone could ever do, including 9 years on staff at headquarters after I graduated from the corps.
Why did I leave? Because I could no longer reconcile what I saw with what I was taught. I could no longer whole heartedly support the decisions made by what I knew to be true and believed to be carnal leadership.
Why did I leave? Because I would break out in tears at just the thought of having to go to fellowship.
In Refiner's defense, when he came here he fully disclosed that he was a shunned "apostate" from the Jehovah's Witnesses and never involved with TWI.
IMO, a cult is a cult an there are many similarities. I would imagine that the reasons JW's stay after they realized that they are involved in a controling cult might be similar to the reasons many of us stayed in TWI.
While, he may not have been iinvolved in TWI, I think that maybe he can learn from us and that possibly we can learn from him also.
Why did I stay? This is much easier to answer than why did I leave.
I stayed because I really, really, really, believed that twi was God's ministry to the world, and that I was answering God's call to serve him.
Why did I stay? Because I felt that there were people to win to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that twi was the one true ministry that would lead them to repentence.
Why did I stay? Because I believed that the bible taught was true, and real and energized and rightly divided...the only place in the world that had the true path to righteousness.
I didn't stay that long after I came to the conlcusion that TWI was a controling cult, misapplied the scriupotures, and was going downhill pretty fast. - Maybe a year or so. It was still too long.
I was not Corps or Staff or even a TC, and therefore not in any any position where I thought my staying would have any effect in making things better. So basically no one was interested in what I had to say anyway. Just a TWI peon.
Also, I was single, and it was in the early 80's before M & A caught on, so I was not fearful of losing family.
Once I realized that God existed outside of The Way International, I was history.
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Nottawayfer
#1 reason: I was a dumb foot.
I believed the BS. I drank the koolaid. I forgot how to think for myself. I was afraid. I was dumb enough to think there wasn't anything better out there.
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Shellon
I stayed because I was not breaking my marriage vows and I was not willing to risk losing my children.
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mj412
Wafer Not
I do not think your a dumb *** nor do I think anyone who got involved like I did is "damaged" or stupid or in any way shape or form less of a loved child of God.
At first I did it cause I bought the package and wanted to sell it myself we all did I think it was a sales job and ignorance
but after that when we knew this is a butch of problems or stress or just wrong why did we still stay then?
shellon I do not blame you I know of more than one couple that even stayed married in great amount of crises and unhappiness because of the way and the same reasoning.
or got married , or got divorced . It was a mess .
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Refiner
I stayed because I knew nothing else and was trapped.
There was noone outside who would save me.
They might rape, rob and murder me, but they wouldnt save me.
Internally, I had to watch my thoughts.
God, of course, knew everything, heard everything.
I developed a habit of only half thinking a thought that I felt he might disapprove of.
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Shellon
I'm very proud that I kept my marriage vows and protected my children.
I'd do it all the same again; no regrets.
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excathedra
i think i thought i was happy
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mj412
I honestly thought my TC loved me and my family.
till I was marked and realized how short lived that type of love was in real life.
then when I went back I said to myself still cant believe this but you know it was the devil and well of course they are my real family .
man I still think at times it was an odd ( for lack of a different word to describe) thing the relationships I had in the way, geez sometimes I thought if I met the very same idiots in real life I would NOT give them a second of my time and here I am lstening to them tell me what the bible really means to my life.
what was up with that? maybe I bought the idea that were all so dam special and powerful for God and above being assh@les and worse .
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Bramble
Shellon--
'I'm very proud that I kept my marriage vows and protected my children.'
Good for you.
Ditto
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Eaglehouse
Good question Mj412,
Why did we stay? Because we were at HQ and had no where else to go and like Refiner stated, "who would save us?" We knew no God outside the walls of TWI.
We had already divided ourselves from our families in a sense. We had depleted all our personal savings living at HQ since they wouldn't cover expenses such as an unexpected need for a new car engine and various other needs that a family of five would incur. Little by little, we had no money of our own. We "owed our soul to the company store." It wasn't until we had asked for several years to be placed on the field that they would finally agree to let us go. (with a few thousand, we were able to finally get out on our own.)
Just like someone posted earlier, we believed just about everything they told us concerning God's delight and favor on TWI and what would happen if we left. It's hard to believe now that we actually behaved as if TWI was synonomous with God.
Thank God we're out now and I pray that their destructive organization falls to pieces! I still believe that the word of God will live and abide forever though. (In spite of TWI!)
Love you all, EH
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dmiller
I stayed cause I had nowhere else to go, and at the time that was important to me. It finally dawned on me that it was better to have no place to go and leave, than it was to have error and stay.
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frank123lol
I thought I was doing the right thing,but it kept getting stranger each and every day,finally
I was just looking mind you at buying a house
and got reproved the last straw was when I said
door to door was an old wine skin and refused to
do it.Of course the fc wife thought I did not
like her and she got mad at me for yelling at her(see the way never likes to be told no)
Take away freedom of choice and you have TWI
I do not need someone to tell me what to do
3yrs later life is sweet
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Steve!
Fine - and you were never involved in TWIt, yet you sound exactly as if you were!
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waterbuffalo
Refiner,
What's that all about?????You said you were never in the way.
WB
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Shellon
posted May 28, 2004 18:54
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi there. Im a newbie and scarcely know anything about "Way International".....
.....but about "The Way" I know very little.
Maybe I can learn something about "The Way" from you.
James
==============================================
Yeah, James, what's that about?
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mj412
dmiller you said "have error and stay" I had always seen the differences in the way esp. the doctrine of sit and such I never considered it error and the fact grace was so heavily relied on as a excuse when people hurt one another erased any error of people.
really I thought we had the hold on love and truth and none of such considerations would matter cause GOD was taking care of me and all of us.
what do you mean when you say error?
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Radar OReilly
Count me in on this hand.
Refiner,
I don't believe much of what you have said here at Greasespot. I am not saying that you are a bad person, just that you have not been honest here.
Want to start over? And tell the truth this time? This is a good place, really. You can be honest, tell the truth, and maybe, just maybe find what you are looking for.
Radar
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mj412
ok guys have at it but I start very few threads here can you please
oh never mind I know why I left clearly .
I was serious thinking about this and would have enjoyed a little discussion but no .... geez
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Radar OReilly
((((MJ))),
I am very sorry.....I apologize for throwing fuel on the derail.
Why did I leave? Leaving twi was the single hardest thing I have ever done. I was in 28 years.....in when I was 14, did all that anyone could ever do, including 9 years on staff at headquarters after I graduated from the corps.
Why did I leave? Because I could no longer reconcile what I saw with what I was taught. I could no longer whole heartedly support the decisions made by what I knew to be true and believed to be carnal leadership.
Why did I leave? Because I would break out in tears at just the thought of having to go to fellowship.
Radar
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Goey
Steve, Radar,
In Refiner's defense, when he came here he fully disclosed that he was a shunned "apostate" from the Jehovah's Witnesses and never involved with TWI.
IMO, a cult is a cult an there are many similarities. I would imagine that the reasons JW's stay after they realized that they are involved in a controling cult might be similar to the reasons many of us stayed in TWI.
While, he may not have been iinvolved in TWI, I think that maybe he can learn from us and that possibly we can learn from him also.
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mj412
no my thread is about why did we stay ?
the why did you leave thread is papjohns.
I know why I left to much hate and suspicsion sp in the folks hearts to enjoy fellowship anymore that was my point when you all went after refiners.
I get it I just wish you would ask him why on his greeting thread and keep this one as a why did we stay NOT LEAVE thread.
it is all good lol . geez grease spot hhaa haa
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Radar OReilly
Oh geezzzzzzz MJ!!!!
You are so hard to please!!!
;)-->
ROR
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Radar OReilly
Why did I stay? This is much easier to answer than why did I leave.
I stayed because I really, really, really, believed that twi was God's ministry to the world, and that I was answering God's call to serve him.
Why did I stay? Because I felt that there were people to win to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that twi was the one true ministry that would lead them to repentence.
Why did I stay? Because I believed that the bible taught was true, and real and energized and rightly divided...the only place in the world that had the true path to righteousness.
Why did I stay? Because I thought I was right.
Radar
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Goey
I didn't stay that long after I came to the conlcusion that TWI was a controling cult, misapplied the scriupotures, and was going downhill pretty fast. - Maybe a year or so. It was still too long.
I was not Corps or Staff or even a TC, and therefore not in any any position where I thought my staying would have any effect in making things better. So basically no one was interested in what I had to say anyway. Just a TWI peon.
Also, I was single, and it was in the early 80's before M & A caught on, so I was not fearful of losing family.
Once I realized that God existed outside of The Way International, I was history.
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excathedra
i'm sure refiner is talking about why he stayed in his cult
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